Open Access Arguments

Why Access

1. Published research results and ideas are the foundation for future progress in science and medicine. Open Access publishing therefore leads to wider dissemination of information and increased efficiency in science, by providing :
   1. Open Access To Ideas (Whether you are a patient seeking health information, an educator wishing to enliven a lesson plan, or a researcher looking to formulate a hypothesis, making papers freely available online provides you with the most current peer-reviewed scientific information and discoveries) and

   2. Open Access To The Broadest Audience As a researcher, publishing in an open access journal allows anyone with an interest in your work to read it - and that translates into increased usage and impact. (Source)

2. Open-access journals are:
   1. Editorialy independant
   2. No publication delay
   3. Reprints are free

   4. The journal uses a Creative Commons license

   5. They refuse advertisements from the pharmaceutical and medical device industry.(Source)

3. Beyond Citation: "The traditional knowledge translation cycle (Figure 2) actually consists of two separate cycles: (1) the translation process (in the upper part of the figure) that takes place within the scientific community, mainly through scientific publications, and (2) the translation process of research to the end-user (in the lower part of the figure) that is facilitated by other mechanisms. This diagram illustrates the implicit assumption that, traditionally, knowledge users who are not researchers (policy makers, consumers, journalists) do not necessarily read scientific publications. In our 7 years of experience with this journal (JMIR), we have received many anecdotal reports from authors and research users testifying that open access publication can help to bridge this gap." Source

Studies

1. The Open Access Advantage

2. Citation Advantage of Open Access Articles

3. Open Access Increases Citation Rate

4. Scholarly Publishing Initiatives at the International Rice Research Institute: Linking Users to Public Goods via Open AccessThis paper demonstrates how the links between these two fields in the middle of the scholarly publishing chain can bridge the gap between public goods (knowledge about rice in this case) and the intended primary users, namely researchers and extensionists in the national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) in the developing countries that IRRI serves.This paper also discusses the publishing processes and models in a donor-driven international research organization that delivers public goods. To meet their mission, organizations such as IRRI must seek a range of demand and supply models for scholarly publications in its value-added chain. Open access publishing is one model - among others - to adopt. But first, the onus is to overcome obstacles such as intellectual property rights, dwindling funds, and connectivity to name just three major ones.

Open Access Publishing: Issues

• Sustainability

• "As the advantages for publishing open access from a researchers' point of view become increasingly clear, questions around the sustainability of open access journals remain."Source